Ricksparks

Credits: 2016: Jazz Tracks "Solo PIano 02" and "Midnight Memorial" selected for part of the score for the short film "Upper West Side Story" directed by Leon Chase (Official Selection at New York Film Week, October 2016)Fall 2015 - Instrumental track "whereknow" featured in the videogame ...

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Credits: 2016: Jazz Tracks "Solo PIano 02" and "Midnight Memorial" selected for part of the score for the short film "Upper West Side Story" directed by Leon Chase (Official Selection at New York Film Week, October 2016)Fall 2015 - Instrumental track "whereknow" featured in the videogame "Curvatron"

October 2014 - "Take Care" short film score, directed by Danielle Dunnigan

August 2010 – Three spec commercial demos, client unnamed due to confidentiality agreements

August 2010 – Two contemporary commercial scores, “Humane Society of Tijuana” public service announcements

November 2009 - Four original rock cues licensed for the Discovery Channel show "Heartland Thunder," commissioned by publisher Jonathan Joseph Budd/Poopytime Productions

BIO Rick Sparks (b. Nov 10, 1967) began performing music in elementary school as a member of his fifth-grade choir. He was active in large group choirs during his junior & high school years, participated in a smaller, jazz-oriented group for three years, and performed rock songs with various friends & acquaintances during all-school assemblies & concerts. He began playing keyboards & electronic instruments while attending high school, practiced some electric & acoustic guitar, and developed an affinity for programming & sequencing digital rhythm units & synthesizers. Rick has studied many forms of music throughout his years and is influenced from everything from epic film scores to ambient noise productions. In 1994 he formed an electronic/industrial project called SUTURE with his friend Tyson Townsend. The duo's first release received favorable reviews from industry trades Sonic Boom and Industrial Nation. 1998 saw the release of their "Symboljism" CD. In 2010 Rick compiled some of their work tracks for the CD “unfinished business.” Throughout 1994 and 1995 Rick also produced, wrote, and performed rock parody songs for the KWHL Morning Show in Anchorage, Alaska. An avid fan of video games, in 1996 Rick joined an internet based group which produced a total conversion of the game "DOOM" based on the Sam Raimi movies "The Evil Dead" and "Army Of Darkness." He wrote nine original tracks for the game’s levels and adapted one piece from the film's original score which played during the stats screen displayed between levels. In 2004 Rick released a collection of improvised jazz tunes inspired by Thelonious Monk's concept that all the feeling of a song only truly exists during the moments of creation. Each cut was limited to no more than three instruments.

After spending a few years upgrading his collection of digital & acoustic instruments, Rick recorded "Music For A Dark Film (Which Hasn't Been Filmed Yet)" in 2005. The tracks used a wide array of instrumentation, from percussion of Middle Eastern origin to standard strings & horns to synthesizers & ambient sounds.

In 2008 Rick began to devote a serious amount of time toward the production of music for film, television, and commercial projects. His first professional work was commissioned that summer by the producers of a television PSA. Between 2008 and 2010 Rick created the scores for three student films, was paid to
develop a contemporary theme for a reality show pilot, licensed four tracks for use by the
Discovery Channel, sold fifteen cues through the AudioMicro stock music service, wrote original tracks for Humane Society PSAs, and was hired to produce three custom demos for a commercial project which cannot be named due to non-disclosure agreements.